This Is How Kanye West’s Quintessential The FADER Cover Got Made

Go behind-the-scenes of Yeezy’s first-ever cover.

In December 2003, The FADER became the first magazine to put Kanye Weston the cover. West was well-established as a producer by then, but as then The FADER editor-in-chief Knox Robinson explains in the above video, "the kid wanted to be recognized as an artist, my man wanted to be seen as a lyricist, a rapper."

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An office visit that turned into a freestyle session progressed to an interview at a local Boston Market (Kanye's call), and finally the cover which former The FADER deputy editor Will Welch describes as being "quintessential" to the magazine: "Kanye is quintessentially FADER because he was merging so many ideas at the same time, and anticipating a massive shift in the culture."

As we celebrate the milestone of our 100th issue, we are proud to present a series of videos exploring The FADER's legacy. Stay tuned for more behind-the-scenes clips tracing our history over the coming weeks.